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will pass with you over Jordan, every man armed to battle, before the LORD, and the land shall be subdued before you; then ye shall give them the land of Gilead for a possession:

30 But if they will not pass over with you armed, they shall have possessions among you in the land of Canaan.

31 And the children of Gad and the children of Reuben answered, saying, As the LORD hath said unto thy servants, so will we do.

32 We will pass over armed before the LORD into the land of Canaan, that the possession of our inheritance on this side Jordan may be our's.

33 And Moses gave unto them, even to the children of Gad, and to the children of Reuben, and unto half the tribe of Manasseh the son of Joseph, the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites, and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, the land, with the cities thereof in the coasts, even the cities of the country round about.

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40 And Moses gave Gilead unto Machir the son of Manasseh; and he dwelt therein.

41 And Jair the son of Manasseh went and took the small towns thereof, and called them Havoth-jair.

42 And Nobah went and took Kenath, and the villages thereof, and called it Nobah, after his own name.

7 Deut. 3. 12. Josh. 13. 8, and 22. 4. 8 Heb. they called by names the names of the cities. 9 Gen. 50. 23.

10 Deut. 3. 14.

CHAP. XXXII.-As in this and other chapters a great number of proper names of towns, &c., occur in a collective form, it may be well to explain in this place how we purpose to proceed in such cases. It will be understood that the object of the geographical notes is to furnish the reader with such information as may be really useful and elucidatory, without encumbering our pages with unimportant explanations and discussions on points of no material consequence. Therefore, as many places are mentioned only once or twice in all the Bible, and then in connection with no circumstances of particular interest, we conceive that the maps, which it is intended to publish, as a separate work, in illustration of this and of other editions of the Bible, will furnish all requisite information concerning such places; and they will therefore not be mentioned in the notes, unless for the sake of noticing some fact which may help to determine their sites, or to rectify the common maps. This may be sometimes necessary, as, with respect to a great number of these obscure places, nothing is positively known concerning their situation. When, therefore, a name occurs in the text which has not been previously noticed, and concerning which there is no explanation in the notes, it will be understood that the name rarely recurs in the Sacred books, is unconnected with any event of importance, and that there is nothing to observe concerning its site or condition. Then, the remaining names, of which some notice must be taken, will sometimes be so thickly crowded in one chapter, that, in order to effect a proper distribution of the notes, the necessary explanation will be referred to some future texts, in which the same names again occur. In such cases, the place where the postponed note may be found will be properly indicated, by which means such names will be distinguished from those of unimportant places, concerning which it is not intended to furnish any explanation.

Verse 1. "The land of Jazer."-Biblical geographers seem to have felt considerable difficulty here, as they have in general avoided saying to what district this denomination should be applied. In a note to verse 3, it is shown that the town called Jazer was a principal city of the country between the Arnon and the Jabbok; and it is therefore to this region that our researches for the land of Jazer should be limited. This being the case, we have little hesitation in hazarding the opinion that the term denotes the whole, or nearly the whole, of this region ;-that is, with the conventional exception of a small part south of the Jabbok, which is considered as belonging to Gilead, although unquestionably the Jabbok is the proper geographical boundary southward of that famous region. Our reasons for this conclusion are, that this district, which formed the country of Reuben, is in the singular situation of having no ancient name, if it be not the land of Jazer; whereas, considering it to be such, we have a complete series of definite names for all the trans-Jordanic region occupied by the Israelites: that is, "the land of Jazer" for the southern portion between the Arnon and Jabbok; "Gilead" for the central portion, between the Jabbok and the Jarmouk or Hieromax; and "Bashan" for the portion extending northward from the Jarmouk. We see also that the form of expression, placing the "land of Jazer in juxtaposition with the "land of Gilead," implies some coincidence between the two districts in extent and importance, while the prior mention of Jazer seems to denote that it was the nearer of the two, and it could not be nearer except where we place it. In fact, if we have rightly defined the region, the Israelites were at this time actually encamped in it. Finally, it is, equally with Gilead, and rather more so, "a place for cattle;" and as it was certainly included in the desired land, whether our opinion as to its identity with the land of Jazer be right or not, we may here cite the observation which Burckhardt makes with reference to its pastures. The greater part of this territory is now called the Belka; and after noticing the contests of the Bedouin Arabs for the right of pasturage within its limits, he goes on to say: "The superiority of the pasturage of the Belka over that of all southern Syria is the cause of its possession being thus contested. The Bedouins have this saying, 'Thou canst not find a country like the Belka'-Methel el Belka ma teltaka. The beef and mutton of this district are preferred to those of all others." Buckingham bears even stronger testimony to the picturesque beauty, the fine climate, and exuberant fertility of this part of the country east of the Jordan; and

seems to have no hesitation in declaring it far superior to any part of the country west of the Jordan, through which he had travelled (Travels among the Arab Tribes,' p. 141). It is therefore no wonder that the two tribes and a half who had plenty of cattle desired to remain on that side Jordan.

"The land of Gilead.”—See Deut. iii.

3. "Jazer."-We do not see with some the necessity of fixing this town on the margin of a lake, because the "waters of Jazer" are mentioned. The expression, according to the use of the Hebrew language, need imply no more than that there was an abundant stream or streams in the district or near the town of Jazer. Burckhardt, apparently aware of this, conjectures that Jazer may be fixed at a fine spring, called Ain Hazier, in a narrow valley to the south of Szalt. This spring turns several mills, and empties itself into the Wady Shoeb. Near it are the ruins of a considerable town, consisting of the foundations of buildings and heaps of stones (Travels in Syria,' p. 355). Besides the analogy of name, the situation coincides tolerably well with the statement of Eusebius and Jerome, who place Jazer fifteen miles from Heshbon, and ten miles west of Philadelphia, or Rabboth Ammon. This is one of the towns that the Moabites appropriated while lying vacant during the captivity of Israel.

"Nimrah.”—This place has in Scripture the several names of Nimrah, Nimrim, and Beth-Nimrah. Near the point where the small river Shoeb, mentioned in the preceding note, empties itself into the Jordan (in N. lat. 32° 8'), there are the ruins of a city called Nymrein. The analogy of name is of great weight in so limited a district, and would lead us to conjecture that this is the place denoted in the text.

"Elealeh.”—About midway between the Jabbok and the Arnon, on the common road (in N. lat. 31° 57', E. long. 36° 10′), Burckhardt found a place called El Aal, which he, with very good reason, supposes to have been the Elealeh of Scripture. Aal in Arabic means "the high," as it does in the Hebrew name; and accordingly the ruins are upon the summit of a hill, whence a very extensive view over the plain is commanded. The town was surrounded by a well-built wall, of which some parts yet remain; and among the ruins are a number of large cisterns, fragments of walls, and the foundations of houses, but nothing that claims particular notice. The place is of no Scriptural importance. It is mentioned sometimes in the Prophets, and always in connection with Heshbon, from which it was but a mile distant, according to Eusebius; and this is as nearly as may be the distance (half an hour) at which Burckhardt found El-Aal. The three towns here mentioned together, Heshbon, Elealeh, and Shebam (Sibmah in verse 38) are described as famous for their vines in Isaiah xvi. 9, 10, and Jer. xlviii. 32-34.

"Shebam," called also Shibmah, Sibmah, and Siphmoth.-This place was proverbially famous for its vines, and is generally mentioned by the Prophets in such a way as to imply its proximity to Heshbon; and this is confirmed by Jerome, who says that the two places were scarcely more than five hundred paces distant from each other. We are not aware that any trace of the name now exists in that neighbourhood. Sibmah was in the territory of Reuben, and together with the other towns in this tribe was taken possession of by the Moabites when the two tribes and a half were carried into captivity.

"Nebo."-We see from verse 38, that this was a town, built, no doubt, near or on the mountain of that name. "Beon," also Baal-Meon (verse 38), Beth-Meon (Jer. xlviii. 23), and Beth-Baal-Meon (Josh. xiii. 7), that is, the house or temple of Baal-Meon. It was probably a place where Baal was worshipped. Its site seems to be marked by the name Myoun, given to a ruined place about two miles south-east from Heshbon. This town was occupied by the Moabites in the time of Ezekiel, who (chap. xxv. 9) mentions it with Beth-jeshimon and Kiriathaim as frontier cities of Moab, and "the glory of the country."

21. "Go all of you armed over Jordan."-Not all who were fit for war. We see from Josh. iv. 13, that the number of the two tribes and a half that passed over Jordan was 40,000; but, according to the late census, the whole number fit for war in Reuben, Gad, and half Manasseh, was 110,580, so that 70,580 remained on the east of Jordan to form the new establishments and watch over their safety.

34. "Built."-Not founded, for these towns have already been mentioned as belonging to the former proprietors of the country; but, rebuilt, or fortified. The latter is a very frequent sense of the word here and elsewhere rendered "built."

"Aroer."-Described, in Deut. ii. 36, as being "by the brink of the river Arnon." In this situation, on the edge of the northern precipice above the valley of the Modjeb (Arnon), Burckhardt found the ruins of a town now called Araayr, which is precisely the same name, allowing for the difference in spelling the Hebrew and Arabic letters. In Josh. xiii. 9, and in several parallel texts, such a form of expression as the following occurs: "Aroer, that is upon the brink of the river Arnon, and the city that is in the midst of the river." This occasions some perplexity; and most commentators have understood it to mean that the city of Aroer was divided into two parts, one of which stood on the bank of the river, and the other in the river, that is, in a spot of ground surrounded by the river, or on a little island made by the Arnon. This only proves that nothing has, until recently, been known of the Arnon, its deep burning valley, and its steep enclosing hills. The passages are confessedly difficult; but on carefully examining them we are quite of opinion that the rendering "in the midst of the river" is untenable. It rather seems that the second clause, as in the above-quoted sentence, refers not to the Aroer, as explanatory of its site, but to other cities, and that the expression with reference to them rendered "in the midst of the river," should be "within the river." It will be recollected that the Arnon was a frontier river, and therefore to speak of "Aroer, which is on the bank of the Arnon, and the other cities within (that is, on the near or interior side) the river," is by no means a useless or unimportant specification. Dr. Boothroyd, after Rosenmuller, seems to concur in this view; but Dr. Waterland had long before thus rendered the passage in Josh. xiii. 16:-" From Aroer that is on the bank of the river Arnon, and the cities between that river and the whole plain." For a remark on the Aroer of Gad, see the note on Josh, xiii. 25. But we know nothing further about this other Aroer.

35. "Atroth, Shophan.”—The Septuagint drops the Atroth, perhaps confounding it with the Ataroth of the preceding verse. The Hebrew however, and, after it, all the ancient Oriental versions, read the two words here as one name, "Atroth-Shophan," which obviates the difficulty by which the Seventy seem to have been perplexed. This Shophan is probably the same as the Zaphon of Josh. xiii. 27, which appears to have taken its name from Zephon (Num. xxvi.) the son of Gad and ancestor of the Zephonites.

36. "Beth-haran."-Eusebius and Jerome state that this place was rebuilt by Herod the Great, and called Livias, in honour of Livia, the wife of Augustus. With this fact before us, we fear it is not safe to follow those who attempt to identify Beth-haran with the ruined place called El Herath, about six miles south of the Jabbok (N. lat. 32° 18'); for D'Anville places Livias full (N. lat. 31° 56') twenty-five miles south of the Jabbok, and any correction which might be suggested in this position would rather carry it more to the south than remove it farther north to approximate it to El Herath.

37. "Kirjathaim."-There was another place of the same name in the tribe of Naphtali, which was given to the Levites. Burckhardt imagines that this site may be found at the ruins of El Teym, nearly two miles west of Madeba, where, as he was informed by his guide, there is a very large reservoir cut entirely in the rock, and still filled in the winter with rain water, there being no springs in the upper plains where it is found. As Burckhardt seems to have no other foundation for his conjecture than the analogy between the word teym and thaim, we may be allowed to doubt whether the site be not too near to Madeba to agree with the distinct statements of Eusebius and Jerome, who place Kirjathaim ten miles west from Madeba.

CHAPTER XXXIII.

1 Two and forty journeys of the Israelites. 50 The Canaanites are to be destroyed.

THESE are the journeys of the children of Israel, which went forth out of the land of Egypt with their armies under the hand of Moses and Aaron.

2 And Moses wrote their goings out according to their journeys by the commandment of the LORD: and these are their journeys according to their goings out.

3 And they 'departed from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month; on the morrow after the passover the children of Israel went out with an high hand in the sight of all the Egyptians. 4 For the Egyptians buried all their firstborn, which the LORD had smitten among them upon their gods also the LORD executed judgments.

:

5 And the children of Israel removed from Rameses, and pitched in Succoth.

6 And they departed from 'Succoth, and pitched in Etham, which is in the edge of the wilderness.

7 And they removed from Etham, and turned again unto Pi-hahiroth, which is before Baal-zephon: and they pitched before Migdol.

8 And they departed from before Pi-hahiroth, and passed through the midst of the sea into the wilderness, and went three days' journey in the wilderness of Etham, and pitched in Marah.

9 And they removed from Marah, and 'came unto Elim: and in Elim were twelve fountains of water, and threescore and ten palm trees; and they pitched there.

10 And they removed from Elim, and encamped by the Red sea.

11 And they removed from the Red sea, and encamped in the 'wilderness of Sin.

12 And they took their journey out of the wilderness of Sin, and encamped in Dophkah.

13 And they departed from Dophkah, and encamped in Alush.

14 And they removed from Alush, and

1 Exod. 12. 37.

2 Exod. 13. 20. 3 Exod. 15. 22. 4 Exod. 15. 27.
9 That is, the graves of lust. 10 Chap. 11..35,

encamped at Rephidim, where was no water for the people to drink.

15 And they departed from Rephidim, and pitched in the wilderness of Sinai. 16 And they removed from the desert of Sinai, and pitched "at 'Kibroth-hattaavah. 17 And they departed from Kibrothhattaavah, and encamped at Hazeroth. 18 And they departed from Hazeroth, and pitched in Rithmah.

19 And they departed from Rithmah, and pitched at Rimmon-parez.

20 And they departed from Rimmonparez, and pitched in Libnah.

21 And they removed from Libnah, and pitched at Rissah.

22 And they journeyed from Rissah, and pitched in Kehelathah.

23 And they went from Kehelathah, and pitched in mount Shapher.

24 And they removed from mount Shapher, and encamped in Haradah.

25 And they removed from Haradah, and pitched in Makheloth.

26 And they removed from Makheloth, and encamped at Tahath.

27 And they departed from Tahath, and pitched at Tarah.

28 And they removed from Tarah, and pitched in Mithcah.

29 And they went from Mithcah, and pitched in Hashmonah.

30 And they departed from Hashmonah, and "encamped at Moseroth.

31 And they departed from Moseroth, and pitched in Bene-jaakan.

32 And they removed from Bene-jaakan, and encamped at Hor-hagid-gad.

33 And they went from Hor-hagid-gad, and pitched in Jotbathah.

34 And they removed from Jotbathah, and encamped at Ebronah.

35 And they departed from Ebronah, and encamped at Ezion-gaber.

36 And they removed from Ezion-gaber, and pitched in the "wilderness of Zin, which is Kadesh.

37 And they removed from 13 Kadesh,

Exod. 16. 1. • Exod. 17. 1. 7 Exod. 19. 1. Chap. 11. 34. 11 Deut. 10. 6. 12 Chap. 20, 1. 13 Chap. 20. 22.

and pitched in mount Hor, in the edge of the land of Edom.

38 And "Aaron the priest went up into mount Hor at the commandment of the LORD, and died there, in the fortieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the first day of the fifth month.

39 And Aaron was an hundred and twenty and three years old when he died in mount Hor.

40 And "king Arad the Canaanite, which dwelt in the south in the land of Canaan, heard of the coming of the children of Israel.

41 And they departed from mount "Hor, and pitched in Zalmonah.

42 And they departed from Zalmonah, and pitched in Punon.

43 And they departed from Punon, and pitched in Oboth.

44 And they departed from Oboth, and pitched in "Ije-abarim, in the border of Moab.

45 And they departed from Iim, and pitched in Dibon-gad.

46 And they removed from Dibon-gad, and encamped in Almon-diblathaim.

47 And they removed from Almon-diblathaim, and pitched in the mountains of Abarim, before Nebo.

48 And they departed from the mountains of Abarim, and pitched in the plains of Moab by Jordan near Jericho.

14 Chap. 20. 25. Deut. 32. 50. 15 Chap. 21. 1, &c. 19 Chap. 25. 1. 20 Deut. 7.2. Josh. 11. 12.

49 And they pitched by Jordan, from Beth-jesimoth even unto 18 19 Abel-shittim in the plains of Moab.

50 ¶ And the LORD spake unto Moses in the plains of Moab by Jordan near Jericho, saying,

51 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, "When ye are passed over Jordan into the land of Canaan;

52 Then ye shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their pictures, and destroy all their molten images, and quite pluck down all their high places:

53 And ye shall dispossess the inhabitants of the land, and dwell therein: for I have given you the land to possess it.

54 And ye shall divide the land by lot for an inheritance among your families and to the more ye shall give the more inheritance, and to the fewer ye shall give the less inheritance: every man's inheritance shall be in the place where his lot falleth; according to the tribes of your fathers ye shall inherit.

55 But if ye will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you; then it shall come to pass, that those which ye let remain of them shall be "pricks in your eyes, and thorns in your sides, and shall vex you in the land wherein ye dwell.

56 Moreover it shall come to pass, that I shall do unto you, as I thought to do unto

them.

16 Chap. 21. 4. 17 Or, heaps of Abarim. 21 Chap. 26. 53. 22 Heb. multiply his inheritance. 24 Josh. 23. 13. Judg. 2. 3.

18 Or, the plains of Shittim. 23 Heb. diminish his inheritance.

Verse 1. "These are the journeys of the children of Israel."-The valuable itinerary contained in this chapter has already been to a considerable extent illustrated, and many points of difficulty which it offers, elucidated. It will be observed that many names occur in Exodus and the previous portion of Numbers, and others in Deuteronomy, which are not found in this chapter. Our labour on this subject does not therefore here terminate. But to enable the reader to obtain a collective view of the whole, we shall, when all the incidental and dispersed notices have been given, furnish a tabular view, based on that given by Dr. Hales in his 'New Analysis of Chronology,' bringing together the various stations in proper order, distinguishing the known or conjectured from the unknown, and stating such identifications of site as we conceive our various and dispersed notes to have established, or to have rendered probable.

It is evident that the stations mentioned in this chapter and elsewhere do not indicate all the places at which the Israelites encamped during a period of forty years. It is more probable that, in general, only those are mentioned where some considerable stay was made, and from which, as from a centre, they, like the Arabs, sent forth their flocks and herds for pasture, until the consumption of all the herbage within a reasonable distance, rendered a removal necessary. This was probably the case, in a peculiar degree, with regard to the names in the middle portion of the itinerary, the first and last routes being actual journeys, with a view to arrive at a particular place; whereas the long period after the sentence at Kadesh were literallywanderings," with no determinate conclusion immediately in view. considering the stations here enumerated, it will be convenient to divide them into four portions or journeys; namely1. From Egypt to Sinai; 2. From Sinai to Kadesh; 3. The Wandering; 4. From Elath to Kadesh again, and thence to the "Plains of Moab."

In

I. From Egypt to Sinai.-This portion has been very fully illustrated in the notes to Exodus, and little remains to be observed in this place. The account of this part of the journey extends from verse 1 to verse 15. In the list of stages we observe three which do not occur in Exodus. These are "the encampment by the Red Sea" (v. 10); at Dophkah (v. 12); and at Alush-all between Elim and Rephidim. It is on all hands acknowleged that we know nothing of either of these stations. As to the encampment by the Red Sea, most of the journey hitherto must have lain along its shore; and from its being mentioned here only, we may infer that the place had no particular name by which it might be distinguished; while its being "by the Red Sea" would distinguish it from the following stations, it being in fact the last station by the Red Sea; for, according to the position for Elim which we have advocated (note to Exod. xv. 27),

the road to Sinai, after about a day's journey further, leaves the sea on the right hand, and inclines off towards the mountains. By the expression in verse 12," They took their journey out of (simply from' in Hebrew) the wilderness of Sin, and encamped in Dophkah," we are only to understand that they left their first encampment in the wilderness of Sin, not that they left the wilderness completely: Dophkah was probably in it, and Alush either in it also, or on its border. The journeys here mentioned are, doubtless, days' journeys, as we may see when we compare the distance to be traversed with the number of stations (ten, including the "three days" before coming to Marah) between the place where the Gulf was crossed and Rephidim. The same distance may be made by a mounted and unencumbered traveller in about five days; but when we consider that the Israelites probably lost much time during the first three days in collecting the spoil of the drowned Egyptians, and that they were probably the most numerous and encumbered body of people that ever travelled together, ten days are not by any means too much for the journey, even by the nearest route, which we have assigned; whereas it could not have been effected in ten days by the way of Tor— not to mention the difficulty of making but one stage of the distance (100 miles) between Marah and Tor, whereas all the others, according to all theories, are not more than ten or twelve miles distant from each other. The Tor theory, therefore, makes it necessary to suppose that, in this particular part only, some stations have been omitted; whereas the opinion we have preferred dispenses with any such peculiarly gratuitous suppositions.

66

II. From Sinai to Kadesh.-This portion of the journey is despatched in three verses (16-18), showing clearly enough that all the stations are not enumerated. Only two intervening stations are mentioned here; but two others occur earlier; namely, Taberah" and the "wilderness of Paran." There are then four places, which we may arrange thus:-1. Taberah; 2, Kibroth-hattaavah; 3. Hazeroth; 4. Wilderness of Paran. Taberah is mentioned in chap. xi. 3. As to Paran, Dr. Hales and others put it first instead of last; and most of the maps of the journeys of the Israelites do the same. It is indeed said in chap. x. 12, that "the children of Israel took their journeys out of the wilderness of Sinai, and the cloud rested in the wilderness of Paran." But a little examination would have shown that this is merely a general indication of the direction of the journey; as might indeed be suggested by the plural form "journeys. Further on (ch. x. 33) the particular account is resumed, and it is said that the host departed from the mount of the Lord three days' journey. It seems to be the place where they rested on the third day that was called "Taberah" (the barning), because the fire of the Lord there destroyed the people when they murmured. The next place is called Kibrothhattaavah (ch. xi. 34), which is the first mentioned in this chapter; the next Hazeroth (ch. xi. 35); and then, in ch. xii. 16, we read, "the people removed from Hazeroth, and pitched in the wilderness of Paran." This removal of the Paran station, from the first to the fourth in the list, does not therefore need any vindication, being most expressly declared in the text. The wilderness of Paran is probably particularly mentioned, as the desert of Zin is on a similar occasion, in order to denote that the Israelites did not proceed up the Wady-el-Araba, but along the other side of the hills which confine that valley on the west. In connection with this there is this remarkable passage in Deut. i. 2,("There are eleven days' journey from Horeb, by the way of Mount Seir, unto Kadesh-barnea.") By "the way of Mount Seir," we should rather expect the way up the great valley to be intended, and that this text designs to point out some difference between the road which was not and that which was taken. If, however, it applies to the road they did take, which seems upon the whole most probable, we may understand that the hills on both sides of the valley in a general sense, called the mountains of Seir; and that the expression, "by the way of mount Seir," means simply that the road lay along the mountains, whether in or out of the valley, and not straight through the desert of Paran (El Tyh). This confirms the view we have taken as to Kadesh (note to ch. xx. 1), as does every other incidental statement which comes under our notice. The latter road could not, with any propriety or in any possible sense, be called "the way of mount Seir;" and yet it is the road which would in all probability have been taken, had Kadesh been, as represented, between the Dead Sea and the Mediterranean; and it is, in fact, the way which they are represented to have taken in the common maps of the route. But here, when we find that in proceeding to Kadesh, through the desert of Paran, they did so "by the way of mount Seir;" and when, many years after, we find them going to and returning from Kadesh also by the way of Mount Seir-that is, through the Wady-el-Araba-the conclusion is almost irresistible that there was but one Kadesh, and that one somewhere near the great valley. Rithmah, mentioned in verse 18, is probably the district in which Kadesh was situated; or at least is the name of some place near Kadesh, and is to be identified with that station, which is not here mentioned by name.

were,

III. The Wandering.-It is a difficult question whether we are to understand the verses 19-36 as intending to describe the principal stations during the thirty-eight years' wanderings, or the stages when, towards the end of that period, a definite object was again given to the journey. This question we do not think it necessary to investigate, and do not profess to decide it. There are circumstances which favour both opinions: the first seems to be favoured by the fewness of the stations-sixteen; and by our being able to recognise a definite object in verse 33, where, at Jotbathah, we again know with certainty where they are, and can trace them and their objects with considerable accuracy during the rest of their journeys. But, then, if this opinion be received, it is necessary to suppose a large hiatus of many years' wanderings between Rithmah and Rimmon-parez (v. 19). That is to say, that Moses, when he resumes the regular account, dates from the place, Kadesh, where a definite object ceased for a time, and then, without reckoning the intermediate and uncertain wanderings, resumes the account where the definite object was resumed. This will scarcely seem too violent a hypothesis to those who are acquainted with the principles of Hebrew computation. But we have still the option of the other alternative. If we adopt this, we have then to consider whether the stations here mentioned were consecutive stages of a progressive journey, or merely the principal places of encampment during a period of devious and arbitrary wandering. Very much has been written, to very little purpose, on this subject; and where the whole is so purely conjectural, we do not think it worth while even to state the different opinions which have been entertained as to the route which these stations indicate, and the places where they are to be found. Our own impression is, that if these names are to be understood of the whole period, they do not indicate any defined route-believing that the Israelites wandered to and fro through all the region of El-Tyh, frequently perhaps, in the course of the thirty-eight years, returning to the same stations, where they knew from experience that pasture might be found for the flocks. As to the identification of the names in this part, we do not see that any certainty can be arrived at on the subject till we come to Elath, which, we learn from Deut. ii. 8 (see the note there), was one of the immediately previous stages to Ezion-geber, and is thought to be the same as the Jotbathah of verse 33. We then know where we are. For a notice of Ezion-geber, see 1 Kings ix. 26.

IV. From Elath to Kadesh again, and thence to the plains of Moab.—This part of the journey has been fully considered in the notes to the immediately preceding chapters, from chap. xx., and requires no further notice. We must however protest against the unnecessary multiplication of stations and of difficulties created by the practice of inserting among the stations the places (Beer, Mattanah, Nahaliel, and Bamoth) which occur in verses 16, 18, 19 of chap. xxi., and which are set on the north of the Arnon. Leaving out these, the account in xxi. is the same as the present.

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